A fantastic eye witness account into the City of London in the 1980s, the games that are played, the mindset of employees there and why they shouldn't be paid so much. Favourite phrase "more than six thousand people had applied for the one hundred and twenty-seven places on the programme. Paycheques at Salomon Brothers spiralled higher in spite of willingness of others who would, no doubt, do the same for less. There was something fishy about the way that supply met demand in an investme... (show more)

A fantastic eye witness account into the City of London in the 1980s, the games that are played, the mindset of employees there and why they shouldn't be paid so much. Favourite phrase "more than six thousand people had applied for the one hundred and twenty-seven places on the programme. Paycheques at Salomon Brothers spiralled higher in spite of willingness of others who would, no doubt, do the same for less. There was something fishy about the way that supply met demand in an investment bank".

Very salient for the current debates on exec pay, see for example the whining in the FT last weekend saying that measures to claw back bonuses were 'anti-American', even 'McArthyite'! (show less)